The planning of Swim Shikoku – an 88-day stage swim around the Japanese island of Shikoku – continues with Reconnaissance Tour #2 completed. A report on Reconnaissance Tour #1 is posted here with the Initial Plan posted here.
The planning requires various levels of preparation:
- Physiological: understanding the physical requirements of swimming around the 50th largest island in the world (similar in size to Long Island in New York). This includes having the strength and mindset to swim a minimum of 3 hours per day for 88 days in potentially very rough, wavy, warm, jellyfish-strewn, fast-moving water.
- Logistical: organizing various accommodation and transportation needs while moving from location to location on a daily basis.
- Operational: preparing the needs of a support team that will include different escort pilots and kayakers while dealing with the oppressing heat and humidity of the Japanese summer and changing weather going into fall, primarily due to typhoons.
The circumnavigation swim around the island of Shikoku, one of the four main islands of Japan, will require traversing nearly 1,200 km around the inlets, islets, rocky coastline, fishing nets, oceans swells, and marine life along the rugged Pacific Ocean coastline and navigating the very fast tidal flows in the more sedate Seto Inland Sea that borders cities including Kobe, Osaka, and Hiroshima.
Logistics of Swim Shikoku
The Start/Finish
I considered a vast number of potential start/finish points for this 88-day circumnavigation swim. The ideal start and finish needed to have the following attributes:
- Scenic beauty, both onshore and in the coastal waters.
- Easy to get to for a support team, friends, family, and media.
- Easy to start and finish with a soft sand beach, preferably wide.
- Easy access by an escort boat and escort kayaker with minimal surf.
- Deep-rooted historical and cultural relevance for the Japanese society.
- Interesting facts and features for interested non-Japanese followers of the swim.
I narrowed the initial large number of start/finish points to a much smaller handful after the first two visits to Shikoku.
On the third visit, the decision became easier and self-evident. Katsurahama Beach fit the bill on all accounts – and then some.
Katsurahama Beach
Katsurahama – also known as Samurai Beach – has a rugged ambiance to it with its rocky coastline surrounding a beautiful wide sandy beach, facing the vast Pacific Ocean beyond. The beach is also easily accessible from Kōchi, one of the largest urban areas and transportation centers on Shikoku, only 15 minutes from the main train station.
Katsurahama Beach also sits along the southern coast of Shikoku where the strong, warm Kuroshio Current in the Pacific Ocean flows past Japan, originating from far southwards. This prevailing current should aid me in the first quarter of the swim.
With palm trees lining along the coast, the light pollution on Shikoku is significantly less than the more urban locations on the other islands of Japan. For this reason, moon gazing is a popular activity on Katsurahama.
Sakamoto Ryōma
It is the historical and cultural relevance of Katsurahama Beach that sealed the deal as the ideal start/finish point of Swim Shikoku.
Deep contemplation and moon gazing on clear nights was something that the legendary samurai and political operative Sakamoto Ryōma did during his short life.
Sakamoto Ryōma was a Japanese samurai and an influential figure who helped establish the Empire of Japan in the late Edo period. His statue stands near the beach. He is known as one of the architects of modern Japan. He was instrumental in negotiating an alliance that helped to bring an end to Japan’s feudal age in 1868. The Sakamoto Ryoma Memorial Museum stands on the hill above the beach.
Towering above Katsurahama Beach is a fascinating museum with English information that brings to life the well-documented achievements of Sakamoto.
It is here at all the best attributes of a start and finish clearly line up for Swim Shikoku.
Katsurahama Beach at the time of Sakamoto Ryōma (1836 – 1867)
What I found interesting were the illustrations of many different conflicts within Japan from over 1000 years ago where one can see samurai, literally swimming freestyle.
Timing
Swim Shikoku will start in the last week in July before multitudes of visitors from around Japan descend upon Kōchi for and its popular festival, the Yosakoi Matsuri, in August – a Japanese-style SXSW music and dancing extravaganza. After a week of stage swims, I should be onwards to Tokushima Prefecture.
Insights and Information
The crowds – like myself – will enjoy all kinds of delicious seafood including the local specialty, katsuo no tataki (flame-broiled bonito), known as Kōchi’s soul food. Throughout Swim Shikoku on a daily basis, I will enjoy the local delicacies and share the local history and characteristics of each stage.
Direction
With a start in Kōchi, I will begin to swim eastwards in a plan to swim counterclockwise around Shikoku.
This direction was selected because of the prevailing Kuroshio Current and winds that will – generally – assist me in swimming as far and as quickly as possible. On most days in the intense heat (upwards to 40°C) and overwhelming humidity (upwars to 85%) of August, the winds are minimal, but are expected to help…on most days.
For days when the winds are strongly against me, I plan to swim as early in the daylight hours as reasonable.
Temperatures
The expected water temperatures will be, frankly, too warm in the beginning half of Swim Shikoku: always above 25°C. When combined with air temperatures that can reach over 40°C on the warmest days, stages will be conducted either early in the day or later in the evening. Several tubs of Desitin, thickly applied zinc oxide, will be used throughout the swim – and removed with coconut oil.
Kōchi
Nearby is Chikurin-ji, one of the 88 temples of the famed Shikoku Pilgrimage. The temple was founded in the year 724 and features a five-tiered pagoda and a tranquilly arranged Japanese garden. It is these such historical sites that I will also visit and report upon on a daily basis throughout the event.
Walking to Chikurin-ji on a Shikoku Pilgrimage is not easy, especially in summer, is never easy for the ohenro-san (pilgrims). The journey of the henro is difficult, walking over and around mountains and along the nearly 1,400 km rugged, twisting, turning coastline. Established by Kōbō Daishi 1,200 years ago, the henro pilgrims can be seen walking along the roads and paths of Shikoku dressed in white with a straw hat and a staff with a bell.
The bell is meant to ward off wild animals and help maintain one’s focus. Throughout Shikoku, you can see signs warning of wild boars.
While Swim Shikoku will run from late July to mid-September, the ohenro-san are largely seen in April-May and October-November, although there are always a few pilgrims that push themselves in the overwhelmingly stifling heat and humidity of summer.
From Katsurahama, the first major point is Cape Muroto. This sharp peninsula juts out boldly into the Pacific Ocean where waves and typhoons over the millenia have eroded its rocks and reefs into fascinatingly unusual shapes. With its tropically clear waters, the undersea views will be a living aquarium of fish, hammerhead sharks, sea turtles, and other marine creatures of all sizes.
Tokushima
From Cape Muroto, I will swim towards Osaka Bay and encounter the Naruto Straits. Along the way, there is about 100 km of some of the best beaches in Japan, dotted with numerous offshore reefs and site of the Tokushima Kaiyo Open Water Swim in the alternatingly calm and rough waters of Takegashima Marine Park.
Given some time on a day when I will have more energy than most, I want to visit the sea turtle museum in Hiwasa. Some of that energy will be replenished by eating the locally sourced (and widely known in Japan) ramen, particular to Tokushima where stir-fried pork, green onions, bean sprouts, an egg with a soy-based broth tops a hearty amount of ramen noodles.
After the marine beauty of Tokushima, the journey will remain enjoyably eventful as I enter the Naruto Straits which are located undernearth the Ōnaruto Bridge that connects the island of Awaji to Ōge Island.
Naruto Straits
Swimming past Tokushima and towards Takamatsu in the Seto Inland Sea, there is a challenging location to navigate – the Naruto Straits where a huge amount of incoming and outcoming water volumes meet to create violently swirling 20-meter wide whirlpools.
The whirlpools are caused by the tidal flows up to 20 km per hour, but on my first-hand view on a reconnaissance tour, there is unique stretch near the whirlpools that will be safe to swim through – and sights will continue to make the stage swim interesting.
Takamatsu
After starting in Kōchi and Naruto Straits, I will continue swimming around Takamatsu, the capital of Kagawa Prefecture.
Here, after a hopefully good starting push where I will try to swim as long as possible for the first month, I will treat myself with the unbelievably delicious sanuki udon noodles. I had eaten udon noodles many, many times before since I first moved to Japan in the 1980s, but sanuki udon is completely at another level in noodledom. There are literally thousands of restaurants throughout Shikoku and Takamatsu that serve this precious dish.
Konpira-san
I have paid my respects to Konpira-san, formerly known as Kotohira-gu. This shrine is dedicated to Okuninushi no Mikoto, the guardian of seafarers. Since its establishment in the 11th century, generations of sailors and fishermen have long climb the thousand steps to ask for safety and success in their endeavors. As an ocean swimmer, this tradition seems wholesomely appropriate.
Seto Island Sea
Once past Naruto, I will undoubtedly greatly enjoy swimming in the swift-moving waters of the Seto Island Sea. There are myriad islands in this relatively peaceful water.
Unfortunately, as I will be focused on swimming, I will probably not have time – or energy – in the second month of the 88-day stage swim to visit three very special art islands (Naoshima, Teshima, and Inujima) where quaint seaside villages are also locations of world-class museums and art projects.
A day won’t go by without swimming in the Inland Sea while breathing towards Shikoku on my left and towards any number of islands on my right. From Shōdoshima, with its abundance of olive groves and citrus trees, to the Kasaoka Islands, my eyes will feast upon all kinds of lovely seascapes and cliffs that will undoubtedly make time pass quickly. In this small area, there are a group of 31 islands, 24 which are uninhabited, 7 which are minimally inhabited: Takashima Island, Shiraishi Island, Kitagi Island, Ōbi Island, Kobi Island, Manabeshima, and Mushima Island.
Small isles will shine brightly through my view from my goggles. The timing of my start time will vary day by day as I plan to catch the maximum push from the heavy tidal flow, punctuated early with a bright red silhouette of the morning’s rising sun and the gentle orange, fading blueish tint of the evening hours.
Matsuyama
I will swim along the coast of Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture after completing between 60-80% of the swim. Undoubtedly, fatigue will have set in, without the ability to literally see the finish. However, another gorgeous group of islands – the Katsuna Islands – an archipelago of 29 inhabited and uninhabited islands dot the western side of the Seto Inland Sea.
A strong mindset will be absolutely necessary as nearly two months will have passed since the start.
But it is here in Matsuyama where the famed Dōgo Onsen exists. The community has long been a welcomed site for Japanese for thousands of years.
Dōgo Onsen is renowned as Japan’s first bathhouse where the stresses, fatigue, and worries of the world can be washed away. That respite will be very much appreciated at this point in the swim.
The iconic wooden bathhouse, constructed in 1894, is extravagant and was the inspiration for Academy Award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki who based the movie Spirited Away on the bathhouse.
In the neighborhood, there are also shrines that have been designated as National Treasures and where Japanese emperors since the year AD149 often bathed. Various pagodas, shrines, statues, and temples dot the area with all kinds of historical importance. Outside of Matsuyama, there are also old-school kabuki theaters, beautifully historic Japanese homes, thatched-roof teahouses and gardens, and a traditionally built Japanese castle in Ōzu-jō.
As in other areas around Shikoku, replenishing with food after each day’s marathon swim legs will be a great pleasure. Matsuyama offers shockingly inexpensive fresh seafood that is highlighted by taimeshi, a rice mixed with sea bream.
One sight not to miss during the swim is cormorant fishing in Ōzu that was developed over 1,300 years ago by Japanese fishermen who tie ropes around the large black bird’s necks. The bird dive into the river to eat ayu, a tasty river fish. The ropes prevent the birds from swallowing the larger fish, but smaller-sized fish are gulped down by the fish in one swoop. The uneaten fish are collected by the fishermen for human consumption.
Cape Ashizuri
If there is one place that I am very much looking forward to swim, other than Katsurahama Beach at the start and finish, it is Cape Ashizuri (Ashizuri-misaki in Japanese) at the southernmost point of Shikoku, the first underwater marine park in Japan.
The jagged, beat-upon rocks and towering cliffs of Cape Ashizuri take on the full power of the Pacific Ocean. It is here that typhoons have long punished the island where thick-stemmed stout palm trees have also endured the fury of the Pacific storms.
But the wild coast, dotted with a number of offshore uninhabited islands and rock outcroppings, is majestic and will be a joy to swim around in the warm, tropical waters.
It is near Cape Ashizuri where temple number 38 is said to be one of the toughest temples to reach. But as the ohenro-san pilgrims strive to reach the dramatic clifftop temple, I will be swimming around the cape where the clarity of the undersea world will be in full view.
This will include jellyfish that will, hopefully, not become overwhelming in their presence. I must prepare for this possibility late in the swim, but as I turn the corner of the cape, the end will suddenly become a visual reality.
Shikoku Pilgrimage Course
The distance of the Shikoku Pilgrimage course is about 1,200 km which may be the ultimate distance of the Swim Shikoku course. Escorted by Chris Morgan, we are planning to complete the expedition in 88 days.
The Island
The swim around Shikoku will start along the coastline of Kōchi City on the south shore of Shikoku and be swum in the counterclockwise direction due to the natural flow of significant currents and tides.
Unswimmable Conditions
At times, the conditions may become completely unswimmable due to Pacific Ocean storms or typhoons. If the conditions are dangerously risky due to typhoon-driven winds and massive coastal swells, the traditional rules of stage swimming (i.e., to swim once during every 24-hour period) will be suspended. No kayak, no boat, no one needs to go out in dangerous conditions simply to adhere to the rules of stage swimming.
The swim is a physiological, psychological, and logistical venture into the unknown, with a year of planning calculated risks. Because of the geographic layout of the island, the Kuroshio Current and tidal flow are significantly strong. I plan to take advantage of 4 – 7 knot currents and tidal flows based on intelligent assessments along the way.
We hope to showcase historical, cultural, culinary, environmental, and scenic perspectives of the island. Each day will have a specific theme – from the need to develop a Blue IQ to the delicious cuisine of the island. There is no driving need or pressure to set a world record and we simply want to enjoy setting off and pushing ourselves to achieve this unprecedented adventure.
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